By Lisa Flueckiger, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – David Ferrer won the 2015 Rio Open tennis tournament, which took place in Rio de Janeiro over the course of last week and came to an end on Sunday, February 22nd. Ferrer beat Italian Fabio Fognini in the final of the ATP 500, while Sara Errani took the title home in the women’s championship.
Former World number three and current ATP number nine David Ferrer from Spain beat Italian and current ATP number 22 Fabio Fognini in the Rio Open final with a relative clear score of 6-2 and 6-3. It was the eighth duel between the two top players, all of which were won by the Spaniard.
Before, Fognini had kicked out tournament favorite and last year‘s winner Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals with 1-6, 6-2 and 7-5. It was therefore the first tournament final on clay that Nadal had missed since 2003. Ferrer qualified for the final with a win over Andreas Haider-Maurer from Austria.
In the women’s tournament, Italian Sara Errani, the tournament’s number one, won the final against the tournament’s number six Anna Schmiedlova from Slovakia. Errani beat Schmiedlova with 7-6 and 6-1.
Brazilian player Tomaz Bellucci was already eliminated by Nadal in the first round of the tournament, while João Souza lost to Haider-Maurer in the quarter finals. Beatriz Haddad Maia also made it to the quarter finals, where she was eliminated by Errani.
The tournament, which took place during Carnival week in Rio de Janeiro, was seated in the Jockey Club arena. It will be followed by the ATP tournament Argentina Open in Buenos Aires, which starts today (February 23rd). Fognini and Nadal have confirmed their participation in Argentina.